Podcasts For Men

20 Podcasts That Will Make You A Better Man

The humble podcast has never been bigger. The platform’s been around for 15 years but was last week reinvigorated by the highly-anticipated release of S-Town, the latest investigation from the producers of podcast grandaddy This American Life. Their first blockbuster hit was 2014’s breakout crime phenomenon Serial, which has since clocked up 250m listens and thrust the podcast habit into the mainstream.

Personally curated, uninterrupted and mostly free – all you need is a smartphone and some headphones – podcasts provide the ideal accompaniment to traveling, chores or workouts.

There’s a lot out there, though – 120,000 at last count – so where to start? How about with the podcasts that have the power to turn your commute into something life-changing and make you a better man? It's got to be better than another mindless scroll through Facebook. Here are our picks for the 20 most life-enhancing, mind-expanding, self-improving podcasts for men…

Boost Your Career Before 9am

HBR Ideacast Harvard Business Review is the bi-monthly bible for leadership insights, management advice, strategic ideas and productivity tips – requiring a pretty pricey subscription to get access to all their content. However, their free weekly podcast provides a taster of thought-provoking snippets and intriguing ideas. Snappy, too, with each episode a mere 15 to 30 minutes long.

Take Some Laughter Therapy

WTF With Marc Maron
Comedian Marc Maron’s twice-weekly podcast is group therapy dressed up as banter. Fellow funnymen and celeb guests (sometimes surprisingly VIP ones like Barack Obama) join Maron in his LA garage to discuss their anxieties, emotions and innermost secrets with brutal honesty. Maron has paid his dues – battling depression, addiction, booze and bitter divorce – so he asks hard questions. It feels like two pals sharing their hard-won wisdom, with lots of laughs as a bonus.

Get A Free Personal Trainer

Get-Fit Guy
“What are you waiting for? Go get fit.” That’s the catchphrase of Ironman triathlete and fitness trainer Ben Greenfield, whose podcast offers weekly “quick and dirty tips” for all levels from beginner to fanatic. “GFG” (not to be confused with The BFG) advises on gear, real world workouts, muscle-building, fat-burning and nutrition – all in an easy-to-understand style and accompanied by instructional vids on his YouTube channel. Well, what are you waiting for? Other fitness podcasts worth checking out include Onnit and Barbell Shrugged.

Expand Your Mind

Radiolab
You don’t need to be a scientist to enjoy this award-winning podcast, dubbed “Blue Peter for grown-ups”. You just need to appreciate beguiling stories and bold ideas. Each week, hosts Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich dive deep into a topic - usually from a pop-science angle, covering areas from social media to military history – in a way that’s not just speech-based but uses atmospheric music, sound effects and archive audio. Playfully produced and fiendishly addictive, it sucks you in and educates you by stealth.

Take A Course In Charisma

The Art Of Charm
The title might sound a bit pick-up-artisty but this is about all-round social strategies, promise. Different experts, mentors and psychologists join each episode to explain how to improve your charisma, confidence and career – from body language to dating tips, public speaking to productivity, networking to negotiation. Aiming to help “ordinary people become extraordinary”, it’s big on practical tips and actionable takeaways.

Become A Pro In The Kitchen

Cook The Perfect…
This popular monthly slot on Radio 4's Woman's Hour – in which top chefs join presenters Jenni Murray and Jane Garvey to share their secrets for perfect home-cooked classics – works well as a podcast, where you can browse the menu of archive dishes. Paul Hollywood’s pork pie, Antonio Carluccio’s arancini, Rick Stein’s fish curry, Bill Granger's ragu, Tom Kerridge’s Barnsley chop… Pick what you fancy, let the pros talk you through it – then cook and eat it. “Nom”.

Get Free Relationship Counselling

Modern Love: The PodcastThe New York Times’ much-adored Modern Love slot – a weekly series of reader-submitted essays exploring the ups and downs of 21st Century romance – has been going strong for 13 years. It’s recently been brought to life by a companion podcast which sees popular columns read aloud by actors and comedians of the calibre of Judd Apatow and January Jones, followed by a discussion and an update from the writers themselves. These short, sweet insights into relationships are sometimes happy, sometimes sad, always thought-provoking.

Collect Life Hacks For Fun

How To Do Everything
Billed as “half advice show, half survival guide”, this entertainingly practical podcast tells you how to tackle a host of potentially tricky tasks. How to get people to remember your name, how to order wine, how to deal with a rude housemate, how to dodge aggressive animals, how to propose… Radio producers Ian Chillag and Mike Danforth rope in experts and dispense tongue-in-cheek yet useful tips.

Pick Up Expert Design Tips

99% Invisible
Architecture and design might seem like visual topics but that’s no obstacle to this being one of the best podcasts around. Host Roman Mars recounts quietly captivating anecdotes about people and ideas that shaped the world around us – from buildings to clothes, logos to gadgets, packaging to city planning. He delves down deep and you come away armed with fascinating cultural factoids. Beautifully done and bite-sized too – episodes are 15 to 30 minutes long.

Take Leadership Lessons From a Navy SEAL

Jocko Podcast
No sniggering at his name. Jocko Willink is a highly-decorated Navy SEAL and jiu-jitsu black belt who not only led a unit during the Iraq War but developed a military leadership training program. Now retired, he shares his battle-hardened advice about management, discipline, office politics, conflict, fitness, motivation and masculinity. Think a cross between The Rock and a drill sergeant giving you a boot up the backside.

Fathom Fatherhood

Beardy Dads
Fatherhood podcasts aren’t nearly as common as those by the dreaded “mummy bloggers” but there are a few goodies. Dadcast, Life Of Dad and The Good Dad Project are worth checking out but our pick is Beardy Dads, in which Brit tech execs Nick O’Leary and Roo Reynolds have a refreshingly down-to-earth chat about all things dad-shaped, from birth to bedtimes, tantrums to the Tooth Fairy. Facial hair not compulsory.

Take Your Gaming To The Next Level

The Indoor Kids
Comedian Kumail Nanjiani (familiar to Silicon Valley fans as long-suffering programmer Dinesh) and his wife Emily V Gordon host this weekly riff on video gaming. It’s not just for hardcore geeks because as well as news and reviews, the passionate pair discuss retro favorites, arcades, gaming’s role in relationships, plus films, TV and all-round cultural commentary – as seen from the couple’s sofa, with a controller clutched in their hands.

Discover The Next Big Idea

How I Built This
Each episode sees TED Talk guru Guy Raz grill an "innovator, entrepreneur or idealist" – often the enviably successful founder of an app, website, credible brand or cool company – about how they built their empire. Eye-opening tales of ingenuity, risk-taking and blind luck ensue. Informative, inspiring and liable to make you dream big.

Improve Your Health, Body And Mind

Underground Wellness
Host Sean Croxton grills a guest expert on physical and mental health issues – but it’s less dry and more fun than it sounds. Covering topics from addiction to anxiety, nutrition to fitness, this is smartly useful stuff which also touches on personal development and entrepreneurship. It’s fast-paced and conversational, as Croxton ensures you come away from each episode with something practical about how to live better. Archived episodes can be found on the Underground Wellness website and Croxton has just launched his own solo site.

Keep Up With A Fast-Changing World

Tech Tent
Most tech-based podcasts are squarely on the super-geeky side (try This Week In Tech or The Wired UK Podcast if that’s your bag) but this weekly “status update” from the BBC World Service is smart, sparky and pleasingly plain-speaking. It combines a news briefing with reviews, trend reports, interviews and analysis, all hosted by likeable tech journos Rory Cellan-Jones and Zoe Kleinman. Who aren’t actually in a tent.

Optimise ...Everything

The Tim Ferriss Show
Self-styled “human guinea pig” Ferriss – prolific self-help author, advisor to tech giants and so-called “Superman of Silicon Valley” – tries out tips on how to hack your body, become more productive and generally upgrade yourself. Hollywood actors give advice on how to become healthier, business leaders reveal their time-management tricks and Ferriss persuades all manner of influencers to share tools and tactics that listeners can really use. His much-downloaded podcasts mean he’s been dubbed “the Oprah of audio”.

Enjoy A Drink (Or Two)

Good Beer Hunting
Most booze-based podcasts sound like two thirsty boozers sitting around a pub table and droning on about hops. A less self-indulgent, more polished version is Michael Kiser’s labor of love, as he searches for the perfect pint while meeting craftspeople, sharing the latest booze news and telling brew stories from the frontline. Like the man says: “It’ll drive you to drink – in a good way.”

Get Wisdom On Tap

Stuff You Should Know
How do citizen's arrests work? What does a healthy poo look like? Why is crack so moreish? Like a light-hearted human Google, genial “SYSK” hosts Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant break down in-depth how random things work, with useless-but-fascinating facts and trivial tidbits to take away. You’ll learn something new every week and smile as you do so.